BANNER: HOLDEN TOUR, LINK TO PAGE 6 STORY
FILE1
Thorp, Carolina’s 10th chancellor, to be
i n s t a l l e d
O c t .
1 2
Holden Thorp will be installed as Carolina’s 10th chancellor on University Day, Oct. 12, at
3 p.m. in Polk Place.
He will give an installation address and the University will honor five distinguished alumni.
UNC President Erskine Bowles will preside. Featured speakers include UNC Board of
Governors Chair Hannah Gage, Board of Trustees Chair Roger Perry, Student Body
President J.J. Raynor, Faculty Chair Joe Templeton, Employee Forum Chair Tommy Griffin,
Chair-Elect of the General Alumni Association’s Board of Directors Eleanor Morris and
American writer Allan Gurganus.
Performances by the Carolina Choir, UNC Wind Ensemble and UNC Symphony Band will
precede the procession of faculty, students, staff, alumni, visiting dignitaries and leaders.
Patricia Timmons-Goodson, associate justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, will administer the
oath of office.
A reception, with cake, will follow in Polk Place. If rain is forecast, an official announcement
will be made in advance about moving the ceremony to the Dean E. Smith Center.
Parking is available in the Smith Center lots, with shuttle service beginning at 2 p.m. Staff
who are in the procession may park in the Cobb Deck (ID is required). Complete information
about the installation is available at www.unc.edu/chan/installation.
University Day commemorates the 1793 placing of the cornerstone of Old East, the
nation’s first state university building. Since 1957, the University has installed chancellors on
this day.
Thorp was the unanimous choice of the Chancellor Search Committee, and the UNC
Board of Governors unanimously elected him last May. He started work on July 1.
A 1986 UNC graduate and native of Fayetteville, Thorp is a Kenan Professor of Chemistry
and an award-winning teacher and researcher. He has assumed several key University
leadership posts since joining the faculty 15 years ago, including dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences, director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and chair of the
chemistry department.
“University Day is one of the most important days of the year at Carolina, and the
installation of Chancellor Thorp trumpets the next stage of the continuing journey for our
University,”
Templeton said.
DISTINGUISHED
ALUMNI AWARDS
Mary Wilmer (Molly) Barker is the founder of Girls on the Run International, a nonprofit
prevention program that teaches self-respect and healthy lifestyles to preteen girls. During
the last decade, the program has grown to include more than 100 councils serving 40,000
girls.
Girls on the Run is a 12-week, 24-lesson character-building program ending with a
noncompetitive 5K race. Barker designed the program as an outlet for young girls to address
“girl box issues,” restrictions that make women follow a particular path in order to be
recognized and valued.
She received the School of Social Work’s 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award. Barker is a
member of the school's Board of Advisors and served as a keynote speaker for the Carolina
Women’s Leadership Council in 2006.
William Joseph Bynum Jr. is chief executive officer and president of ECD/HOPE
(Enterprise Corporation of the Delta and Hope Community Credit Union), a non-profit
community development financial institution.
Bynum helped establish the Durham-based Self Help Credit Union, one of the nation’s
preeminent community development financial institutions. He then served as director of
programs at the N.C. Rural Center where he worked to address development needs in rural
and economically distressed communities.
In 1994, Bynum was recruited to start the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta to spur
economic development in the delta areas of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. In 1995 he
founded Hope Community Credit Union, and in 2002 ECD assumed its management.
Bynum has advised Presidents Clinton and Bush on community development matters and
serves on the boards of numerous advisory groups and foundations.
Walter Lowry Caudill, who did his undergraduate work at Carolina, is the retired worldwide
president of pharmaceutical development for Cardinal Health. He led a unit that provided
development services for the pharmaceutical industry at nine sites, from Research Triangle
Park to Schorndorf, Germany. Caudill and Alfred Childers co-founded Magellan Laboratories
in
1991,
which
later
was
acquired
by
Cardinal Health.
Caudill and Childers were named 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year for North and South
Carolina by Ernst and Young, the Kauffman Foundation, USA Today, and NSADAQ, and
were finalists for the National Entrepreneur of the Year.
Caudill was a steering committee member of the Carolina First Campaign and chaired the
Private Fundraising Steering Committee for the University’s Physical Science Complex. He
serves on the Chemistry Department’s External Advisory Board. He is an active member of
the American Chemical Society and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Leah McCall Devlin is the State Health Director and director of the N.C. Division of Public
Health. After earning her undergraduate degree at Carolina, she also received a doctorate in
dentistry and master’s degree in public health.
Devlin began her professional career at the Wake County Department of Health, where
she served as director for 10 years. She joined the N.C. Department of Health and Human
Services in 1996 and became the state's first female State Health Director in 2001.
She is also a member of the N.C. Institute of Medicine, the Women’s Forum of North
Carolina and the UNC Public Health Foundation Board. Devlin’s honors include receiving
awards from Planned Parenthood, the N.C. Public Health Association and the Poe Center for
Health Education.
Debra Wehrle Stewart is the fifth president of the Council of Graduate Schools. She came
to that position in 2000 after serving as vice chancellor and dean of the Graduate School at
N.C. State University.
The Council of Graduate Schools is the leading organization dedicated to the improvement
and advancement of graduate education. Its 453 members award the majority of all U.S.
doctorates and master’s degrees.
Stewart has chaired the Graduate Record Examination Board, the Council on Research
Policy and Graduate Education, the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities
and the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools. Current board memberships
include the National Research Council Board on Higher Education and the Work Force and
the advisory board of the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate. Stewart received her Ph.D. in
political science from Carolina.
FILE2
Anticipating needs
Accelerating
solutions
ast Friday, on what UNC System President Erskine Bowles called “a great day for the
University, for North Carolina and for the health of people around the world,” Carolina’s
School of Public Health was renamed the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
The naming celebrates a $50 million gift to the school from Dennis and Joan Gillings,
the largest single gift ever made to the University. The couple's gift, pledged in
February 2007, will support several programs focusing on ways to anticipate and accelerate
solutions to the public health needs of this century. One example is the newest of 10 Gillings
Innovation Labs that will track and map tropical infectious diseases using state-of-the-art
molecular and demographic methods.
The Gillings' transformative gift places the couple's names among Carolina’s legendary
friends and enables the University to be a globally eminent institution, said Chancellor
Holden Thorp. "Their investment will produce great results for North Carolina and the world."
Dennis Gillings, who built and led Quintiles Transnational Corp., spent 17 years as a
biostatistics professor at the School of Public Health. During his tenure, Gillings began
providing statistical consulting and data management services to pharmaceutical clients.
Quintiles arose from those consulting activities and was incorporated in 1982.
Today, with nearly 30 years’ experience in drug development applications and theory,
Gillings has provided consultation to numerous companies and health organizations.
“I would like the thought leadership of global public health to come from North Carolina,”
L
Gillings said. He envisioned the gift as a way to enable programs from within the state to
lead the way for thinking globally while benefiting people locally, he said.
Joan Gillings has had careers in public health, including at Carolina, and in commercial real
estate. She sits on several boards of universities and is a member of the Gillings School of
Global
Public
Health’s
acceleration
advisory committee.
CUTLINE
Chancellor Holden Thorp, right, celebrates with Joan and Dennis Gillings Sept. 26
after the School of Public Health is renamed the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
FILE3
Houston finds her place at
Carolina by helping students
find theirs
erri Houston grew up in the hood, but the hood never became part of her. She credits
her parents for making both those things possible.
Her father and mother chose to raise their four children amid the mean streets of
west Chicago, in part because each was uniquely committed to making that
community better.
Houston’s father managed Garfield Park, just around the corner from their second-story
flat. Her mother worked for 45 years as day-care director for Marillac Social Center, a
Catholic-sponsored agency a few blocks from home that served the needs of the working
poor.
Each morning, Houston and her sister and brothers boarded the L train, and then a bus to
get to the private Lutheran schools in the suburbs her parents insisted on having them
attend.
Because both parents worked late into the night, the four children fended for themselves
much of the time. But even when they were away, Houston’s parents’ presence was always
felt. What was expected most of all, she said, was for the children to get home quickly and
stay home once the school day ended. And they did.
T
ODD BALANCING ACT
It was an odd and perhaps contradictory balancing act to live in a place while you fought to
keep your children from being sucked into it. Houston admits that she could not understand
all of this growing up.
During the week, they went to a school in the suburbs filled with white faces, and on
Sunday, to a Baptist church close to home where all the faces were black. It was as if she
belonged to two separate communities, yet was not fully part of either one.
On the bus ride to school, she remembers staring through the glass at the big houses with
big yards on tree-lined streets and wishing that her family could live in such a place where it
wasn’t dangerous to go outside.
Only as an adult could she see what they would have lost by moving out of the old
neighborhood.
Her parents didn’t want their children to forget who they were and where they came from,
and staying in west Chicago reminded them of those things every day.
Conversely, by making sure the children received a good education and a solid spiritual
foundation, her parents ensured their children could live anywhere they wanted to live when
they grew up and do whatever they wanted to do with their lives.
IMMEDIATE STUDENT CONNECTION
In her job as director of recruitment and multicultural programs within the Office of Diversity
and Multicultural Affairs, Houston finds herself at an institution where people of color have
not always been welcome.
Carolina, after all, was once a place that enrolled only white males. Over the past half
century, there has been a metamorphosis to make the University into a place where diversity
in all its myriad forms is not only accepted but deliberately pursued as a measure of
excellence.
On Sept. 27, in partnership with the admissions office, Houston oversaw a visit for
hundreds of highly qualified students of color, students who by virtue of their abilities and
achievement have an entree to practically any university in the country.
It is one thing to tell students that they will be welcomed on this campus, Houston said. It is
another thing to show them.
Houston’s ability to make an instant, real connection with people showcases who she
really is, say the people who nominated her for a 2008 C. Knox Massey Award.
“There is not one person, especially minority students having any connection to the Office
of Minority affairs these past nine years, who has not been touched by Ms. Houston’s
impeccable character, loving heart and dynamic spirit,” said one nominator.
Others spoke of the sheer electric nature of her speeches and the way she literally croons
the praises of her students.
Whether on stage speaking before a packed auditorium or meeting confidentially with one
student in her office, Houston exudes intimacy and delivers a personalized focus and
attention that only she can convey, others wrote.
During Houston’s nine years at Carolina, a record number of minority students have
enrolled. Those who know Houston say she is a major reason why.
She knows her effectiveness, and ultimately her value to administrators, stems from her
connection with the students and her ability to understand their hopes and dreams, and the
obstacles – both real and imagined – that can stand in their way.
“I feel fortunate to be in a position to speak with the policy-makers and still be able to be on
the frontlines with the students and speak in that same voice,” she said.
HER CAROLINA
NEIGHBORHOOD
During her 22 years in higher education, Houston has seen her fair share of universities
that do not practice what they preach. “But there’s something special about Carolina,”
she said.
UNC should be a place where all ideas and identities are embraced. Diversity encompasses
all the things that somehow make us different – from sexual orientation to religious beliefs to
political affiliation, Houston said.
The goal is not to convert or condemn anyone, she said. The goal is to create an
environment of openness and respect that enables students to learn from their differences
and ultimately to see them as a cause for celebration rather than division.
“I often say that I have the coolest job in the world where I’m able to work with young
people who keep me young,” Houston said. “I’m able to work in an environment that is very
supportive and encouraging, and my job is to create opportunities for students to pursue their
educational and professional aspirations at a wonderful institution.”
It is a job that has demanded a great deal of her, but has given her far more in return.
Every day, she gets a chance to make a difference in other people’s lives, and in so doing,
find deeper meaning in her own.
She jokingly added, “Occasionally I even get to perform in a jazz band with the chancellor.
Life is good!"
Just as west Chicago was her parents’ neighborhood, Carolina has become hers, and its
students, her children to keep.
That is why it was important for Houston to have her parents come to
the Massey awards banquet last spring. It was because of them, after
all, that she was there.
CUTLINE’
Terri Houston's ability to connect with people helped earn her a 2008 Massey award.
FILE4
Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu selected
as May
commencement speaker
Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize and renowned South African antiapartheid campaigner, will deliver the spring commencement address, Chancellor Holden
Thorp announced.
Thorp will preside at the ceremony, set for May 10, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. in Kenan Stadium.
“Archbishop Tutu is one of the world’s greatest humanitarians,” Thorp said. “Our world
desperately needs the compassion and understanding that he exemplifies. I can’t imagine a
finer, more qualified person to inspire our graduates and their families. Having him speak at
Carolina’s commencement will be a slam dunk for our graduates.”
Thorp chose Tutu in consultation with the University's Commencement Speaker Selection
Committee, which is made up of an equal number of students and faculty.
Alongside Nelson Mandela, Tutu is widely credited as being the most central figure in the
fight to end apartheid in South Africa. A rigorous advocate of non-violence, Tutu rose to
worldwide prominence in the 1980s, leading both popular protests within South Africa and
helping champion international efforts to pressure the then-government to drop its system of
racial segregation.
He also served as the first black Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and
chaired the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as the nation began its
process of rebuilding following the end of apartheid.
Tutu continues to work globally to advocate for democracy, freedom and human rights, as
well as campaigns to fight AIDS, poverty and racism. He has served on several United
Nations panels and is chair of the Elders, a group of world leaders that counts former U.S.
President Jimmy Carter, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Myanmar
pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi among its founding members.
Among his many other honors, Tutu has been named a Grand Officer
of the Légion d'honneur by France, was awarded the Order of Merit
Grand Cross by Germany and is a recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize.
FILE5
Hettleman Prize winners span
the arts and sciences
our highly promising professors in diverse fields have been awarded the Phillip and
Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty.
They are Jason D. Lieb, an associate professor of biology; Milada A. Vachudova, an
associate professor of political science; and Joshua M. Knobe, an assistant professor
of philosophy – all in the College of Arts and Sciences – along with Blossom A.
Damania, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology and a member of the
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine.
The Hettleman Prize, which carries a $5,000 stipend, recognizes the achievements of
outstanding junior tenure-track faculty or recently tenured faculty. The award was established
in 1986 by Phillip Hettleman, who was born in 1899 and grew up in Goldsboro in a family with
very little money. He earned a scholarship to UNC, went to New York and in 1938 founded
Hettleman & Co., a Wall Street investment firm.
Knobe and Vachudova will present their work Feb. 18, and Damania and Lieb will present
theirs April 8, all from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Carolina Club in the George Watts Hill Alumni
Center.
F
Lieb, during his six years at Carolina, has achieved international status for research
investigating the accessibility of information encoded in a genomic DNA sequence and how
that accessibility affects gene expression, said Terry Magnuson, chair of the genetics
department and director of the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences.
From the beginning of his career, Lieb has studied the way DNA packaging, or chromatin,
affects how genes are regulated on a genomic scale, Magnuson said. Lieb, whose work is an
integral part of the genome sciences center, explores the relationship among chromatin,
transcription factor targeting and gene expression.
Magnuson said that Lieb has been one of the most active members in Carolina’s genome
initiative. One of his most significant contributions has been his involvement in the planning
and design of the new Genome Sciences Research and Teaching building.
Vachudova, who joined the faculty in 2001, wrote “Europe Undivided,” which examines
determinants of the quality of emerging democratic institutions in states that are making the
transition away from authoritarianism and ethnic conflict. The 2005 work also explores how
international actors influence this process.
Her book won two major book awards, the International Social Science Council's Stein
Rokkan Prize for the best work in comparative social science by a scholar under the age of
40, and the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies' Marshall Shulman
Book Prize for the best book in international relations of the states of the former Soviet Union
or Eastern Europe. She conducted more than 150 interviews for the book, in Czech, Slovak,
Polish, French and English, in six eastern European countries.
David Cameron, professor of political science and director of the Yale Program in
European Union Studies, said Vachudova’s scholarship is distinguished by her analytical
focus on the relationship between the European Union and the domestic politics of central
and eastern European countries.
Damania is a premier faculty member and the archetype of the junior faculty the University
hopes to nurture and retain, said H. Shelton Earp, distinguished professor of medicine and
director of the Lineberger Center, and Ron Swanstrom, acting chair of the Department of
Microbiology and Immunology.
“Her study of viral pathogenesis at all levels – the molecular, the cellular and the infectious
– are models for future approaches to diseases of worldwide import,” they said in their
nominating letter.
Damania’s breadth of training, they added, has served her well as she “launched a
successful academic career spanning the juncture between cancer research and infectious
diseases.”
In her time at UNC, Damania has published 30 papers in top-notch journals and become a
magnet for graduate students, including the four currently in her lab. Also, she obtained the
highly competitive Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease
Award that gave her an additional $400,000 for her research.
Knobe, who joined the faculty in 2006 directly from graduate school, was featured in a
recent cover story in the Chronicle of Higher Education in which he was described as having
“rocked the philosophical establishment” and earned “a place at the leading edge of the
discipline.”
He is credited with being the major force behind – and most impressive practitioner of –
experimental philosophy, which applies experimental techniques to philosophy’s traditional
conceptual problems.
Knobe already has 29 published articles and an edited volume. Moreover, his publications
have drawn commentary from a number of important philosophers and action theorists,
including two articles by Alfred Mele, arguably the world’s foremost living action theorist.
“In sum, Joshua Knobe is a remarkable philosopher,” said Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, chair of
the philosophy department. “He has produced more, and been cited more, than anyone we
have known at his career stage.”
He added, “Knobe has a unique voice in philosophy that has reshaped the philosophical
terrain.”
ADMINISTRATION
Housekeeping committee reviews work
changes
Carolina’s Housing Support Housekeeping Committee believes that housekeepers who do
not want to work weekend shifts in residence halls should not be required to do so. And
Chancellor Holden Thorp agrees.
Last month, Thorp reiterated that position when he met with two leaders from the
housekeeping staff and the Student Action with Workers group after they delivered a letter
outlining concerns about work schedules for these housekeepers. The group objected to a
work schedule that required some housekeepers in the Department of Housing and
Residential Education to work a weekend day as part of their regular 40-hour work week.
Thorp said the University would hire new employees or use housekeepers who volunteer
to work weekends. In addition, he said, housekeepers would not be asked to perform an
unreasonable amount of work.
Administrators from the divisions of Finance and Administration and Student Affairs
established the Housing Support Housekeeping Committee, made up of housekeepers from
each housing work zone and managers from the departments of Housing and Facilities
Services. The committee is working to devise a schedule that meets the University's needs
while not requiring housekeepers to work weekends if they prefer not to do so.
In a Sept. 19 campus e-mail message, Thorp said, “Housekeeping members were chosen
by employees in each zone because they are most familiar with the duties being performed,
and their input is critical to the committee’s work. The committee continues to assess
workloads and potential alternative work schedules.”
The committee met Sept. 24 and and agreed upon a proposed schedule that was to be
presented to housekeepers on Sept. 30 after the Gazette went to press. It is scheduled to
submit its recommendations Oct. 15.
Thorp asked the campus community to allow the committee members to continue their
discussions and submit their recommendations. The committee's proposals will go to
Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services, and Christopher Payne,
associate vice chancellor for student affairs.
On Sept. 19, Elfland also sent a letter to housing housekeepers to make sure they
understood the committee’s purpose and the process it is following. “It is very important to
me that every housekeeper’s opinion is heard,” the letter said.
Details about the committee, its charter and minutes of the meetings
are available on the Facilities Services Web site, www.fac.unc.edu.
Units asked to trim state appropriations 2
percent for the year
he University will be faced with a non-recurring 2 percent cut in state appropriations
through the end of the fiscal year.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bernadette Gray-Little and Vice Chancellor
for Finance and Administration Richard Mann announced the cuts to vice chancellors
and deans in a memo sent out this week.
Gray-Little and Mann told vice chancellors and deans that they would have the freedom to
decide how and where cuts will be made.
The cuts are the result of a directive that Gov. Mike Easley issued to the Office of State
Budget and Management to do what is necessary to ensure the state budget is balanced by
June 30, 2009, the end of this fiscal year.
“We believe decisions about implementation of the non-recurring reduction should rest with
each vice chancellor or dean so you can minimize any adverse effects on unit goals,” Mann
and Gray-Little told vice chancellors and deans in their joint memo. “Therefore, the decision
to freeze hiring, limit travel or curtail other non-personnel spending to absorb reductions is
your choice.”
The amount the University will revert back to the state is $10.3 million, said McGregor Bell,
the University’s budget director.
The University's total $2.38 billion operating budget for the current fiscal year is funded by a
combination of public and private sources. State appropriations account for $574 million, or 24
percent of that total, Bell said.
The 2 percent cuts will be administered to Academic Affairs, Health Affairs and Area
Health Education Centers (AHEC), said Senior Associate Provost Elmira Mangum.
“The details have not been worked out as far as the distribution of the expenditure
reduction yet, so the impact is not likely to be known until the decisions are made by the
individual units,” Mangum said.
The state budgeted revenues for the current fiscal year based on the assumption that there
would be slow economic growth in the first half of the year, but the state’s economy would
recover in spring 2009 when individual and corporate tax collections are due, the memo said.
State officials are now concerned that the nation’s economic slowdown could lead to weaker
revenue collections in April than they originally forecast.
The state budget office also indicated that the cuts could be lowered if the economy
improves,
or
increased
later
if
conditions worsen.
T
Mann also said the University needs to be prepared for the possibility
of reductions in the 2009–10 budget if economic conditions not do
improve.
Chancellor Holden Thorp has begun traveling across the state to visit with high school and
university students, as well as his fellow UNC chancellors and Tar
Heel alumni.
During the tour, which began Monday and will end Oct. 6, Thorp is visiting seven cities and
towns – Asheville, Charlotte, Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Morehead City and
Wilmington – as well as a Chapel Hill High School classroom (pictured at right).
“This state created and supports a world-class public research university – a university
that will help North Carolina meet the toughest challenges our state faces, both now and in
the future,” he said. “I want people to understand that and to be proud of the state’s
investment
and
support
of
the University.”
The chancellor said he wanted to demonstrate his personal commitment to the University’s
mission of public service and engagement before his Oct. 12 installation. Despite having lived
in North Carolina most of his life, he said the tour was important because, “I’ve still got a lot to
learn.”
His trip began with a stop at a Chapel Hill High School class and will finish with a visit to
his
alma
mater,
Terry
Sanford
High
School,
in
his
hometown
of Fayetteville.
One goal of the tour is for Thorp to visit his fellow UNC campus chancellors.
“This state needs its universities to be as collaborative as possible. … I’ve pledged to
President [Erskine] Bowles that we will partner with our sister UNC institutions and, together,
help lead North Carolina into the future.”
Thorp will also visit with students studying at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead
City, where faculty and students are working to help North Carolina address key questions
related to the nature, use, development, protection and enhancement of the state’s coastal
marine resources.
Chancellor's weeklong state
tour begins
GOVERNANCE
Creating new opportunities for
Carolina's future is vital
The University has a strong Honors Program, study aboard opportunities and first-year
seminars – programs that have been replicated at many of the top universities competing for
high-achieving students.
But to remain competitive in recruiting high-caliber high school students, the University
must also develop opportunities that are not available elsewhere.
That was one of the messages the Board of Trustees heard last week during dual
presentations – one about students who make up the Class of 2012, the other about the
impact of increased enrollment on Carolina’s overall academic quality (see related stories on
page 4).
Exploring such opportunities is part of a process that board Chair Roger Perry initiated this
summer when he asked Student Body President J.J. Raynor and University trustee John
Ellison to meet with the University’s many audiences to talk about the University’s future and
how it can become even stronger.
Ellison said the discussion series, called Carolina: Best Place to Teach, Learn and
Discover, was a great opportunity to uncover recurring themes for some of the University’s
most pressing needs and promising opportunities. He and Raynor have already met with
around 140 students, faculty, staff, alumni and others, and plan more meetings during
the year.
FUNDING BIG IDEAS
A new trustee committee focusing on fundraising and communications also described
preliminary plans for a key initiative to help make Carolina successful: a new fundraising
campaign, possibly with a goal of $3.5 billion to $4 billion.
Matt Kupec, vice chancellor for University Advancement, said much work was required
before a new campaign could be launched. The first step would be to recruit a volunteer
committee to work on the overall plan – crafting a case statement to generate support from
donors, a timeline, a goal, a name, a budget and ways to recruit other volunteers.
When it is launched, the next campaign will come on the heels of Carolina’s most
successful fundraising campaign ever, the Carolina First Campaign that ended Dec. 31,
2007, after raising $2.38 billion.
“But we cannot rest on our laurels,” Kupec told trustees.
Carolina envisions working toward a new campaign that would elevate it among a higher tier
of fundraising peers – universities like Virginia and Yale with $3 billion campaigns, Johns
Hopkins with a $3.2 billion campaign, and Cornell and Columbia that have $4 billion campaigns.
OTHER ACTION
In other action, trustees approved a design to add two 10-story exit stairs on the south side
of Wilson Library. The $12 million project, which includes installing sprinkler systems
throughout the building, will bring the library up to fire safety building codes as set forth by
the N.C. Department of Insurance.
Trustees also reviewed a preliminary design for Carolina Commons, a proposed housing
project exclusively for faculty and staff featuring around 160 dwellings on a 62-acre tract of
University-owned
land
northwest
of
Carolina North.
Details have yet to be worked out, but the combination of singlefamily, townhouse and condominium units is intended to address a
range of incomes among faculty and staff.
Trustees look at impact of
increased enrollment on overall
q
u
a
l
i
t
y
ize matters, but quality – as measured by the number of students in the top 10
percent of their class – matters most of all.
That, in a nutshell, was the message the Art & Science Group, a higher-education
consulting firm, told the Board of Trustees last week as the University grapples with
the prospect of adding more than 4,000 students during the next decade. Carolina’s
current enrollment is around 28,500.
“If enrollment grows, you have to work very hard to make sure that quality doesn’t slip,”
said Rick Hesel, a principal with Art & Science.
All UNC system campuses are planning for enrollment growth to accommodate the rising
number of college-age students within the state. Carolina, as the flagship university with a
national and increasingly international reputation of excellence, is exploring how it can meet
the obligation to absorb its share of that growth without sacrificing either the quality of the
student body or the quality of the undergraduate experience.
Offering more merit awards would have the “single largest positive effect” in managing the
impact of growth and preventing a decline in the number of top North Carolinians who apply
or enroll, Hesel said.
For instance, he explained, a $2,500 increase in merit awards could result in an 8
percent increase in the number of top North Carolinians enrolling, while a $5,000 increase
in merit awards would yield a 17 percent boost in enrollment among top applicants. The
findings are based on original research about the effect on recruiting of increasing
Carolina's enrollment to 33,000.
S
MISPERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY
Interestingly, the Art & Science study revealed two misperceptions about the current size
and quality of the student body.
Nearly half of admitted students and students who inquired about Carolina thought
Carolina already had a student population of 33,000. At the same time, nearly half of
both groups believed a higher percentage of its students graduated in the top 10 percent
of their high school class than actually did.
But the importance of that quality, both real and perceived, cannot be overstated, the study
revealed.
If 85 percent of the students at Carolina graduated in the top 10 percent of their high
school classes, it would result in a 9 percent increase in the number of top North Carolinians
enrolling at Carolina. On the other hand, if the percentage dropped to 65 percent, it would
result in a loss of 19 percent among those same top students. (In the current first-year class,
79.1 percent of students graduated in the top 10 percent of their high
school classes.)
The implications of the report prompted trustee Rusty Carter to comment that Carolina
could best serve the state, not by adding more students, but by making sure it retained the
ability to attract the best students from within North Carolina and around the country.
But Chair Roger Perry cautioned against sending a message to the General Assembly that
the University wanted to opt out of accommodating enrollment growth. He said the concerns
Carter
raised
were
real
and
legitimate,
but
argued
that
the
message would not be well received by legislators.
Chancellor Holden Thorp said it was proper to debate what Carolina’s enrollment should
look like in 10 years, but there were some things that the University could be doing now to
safeguard the ability to attract top students no matter how large enrollment ultimately
becomes.
Continuing to develop innovative programs to attract top students was first on that list, he
said. And second was doing more to get Carolina’s story out to students who, after hearing
and understanding it, would want to become part of the story.
"We
need
to
start
that
now,”
Thorp
said.
“That
much
we know."
Actually, the first steps have already begun. In July, Perry asked Student Body President
J.J. Raynor and trustee John Ellison to meet with students, faculty, staff, alumni and others
to
talk
about
the
University’s
future
and
how
it
can
become
even stronger.
The pair has already met with around 140 people to gather information for this Carolina:
Best Place to Teach, Learn and Discover initiative, with more meetings planned during the
year. Their recommendations on how to strengthen Carolina’s position and enhance its most
promising
opportunities
will
be
forwarded to the trustees in the spring.
RESEARCH
Research
funding up
11 percent
from last year
University research grants and contracts totaled $678.2 million in fiscal 2008 – more
than double the amount from a decade ago and an 11 percent increase over last year’s
record $610 million.
Chancellor Holden Thorp announced the figures Sept. 12 at his first Faculty Council
meeting.
More than half of the 2008 total – about $356 million – reflected a 13 percent gain in
grants and contracts awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is
traditionally the University’s largest source of research grants.
Carolina’s success has come at a time when the federal government is throttling back, not
forward, on funding for research, Thorp said.
“Carolina faculty are outperforming the market for research grants,” he said. “It’s hard to
imagine another public university that had these kinds of numbers.”
Thorp attributed the University’s accomplishment to the quality of the faculty, but he said
the figures alone were not the most important aspect of the University’s research success.
“What’s really important is the work we are doing. The problems you are working on, and
the energy and excitement you are bringing motivates the reviewers and funding agencies,”
he said.
Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development, said that awards
were up across the board.
“We have both a greater number of awards and a greater average size,” Waldrop said.
“That’s significant, because the jump in total funding was not attributable to one or two
exceptionally large awards.”
Results from top-performing University units this year include:
n School of Pharmacy – $16.5 million, up 26 percent;
n School of Social Work – $12 million, up 26 percent;
n School of Medicine – $356.8 million, up 19 percent; and
n College of Arts and Sciences – $68.6 million, up 19 percent.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Linda Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing since 1999, said the school was
renowned for its leadership in the field.
Not only was Carolina the first school in the state to offer a baccalaureate-level degree in
nursing, it was also the first to offer nursing degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels, she
said.
Society is facing a nursing shortage, she said. In 2004, the state set goals to increase the
output of nurses, especially baccalaureate-prepared nurses.
“We have been a leader in the state in response to this call to produce more nurses, all the
while maintaining the quality of our applicants and increasing diversity,” Cronenwett said.
When asked about Carolina’s peers in nursing education, Cronenwett said the top two
nursing schools were at the universities of California–San Francisco and Washington,
followed
by
the
universities
of
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
and
Illinois-Chicago.
Private schools were not among Carolina’s major competitors, she said, because nurses
tend to come from working-class families and attend large public universities.
OTHER REPORTS
David Montgomerie, chief of staff for the Graduate and Professional Students Federation,
said the group’s priority this year was to listen to students’ needs and respond to them. GPSF
wants to make faculty members aware of the unique challenges faced by Carolina’s graduate
and professional students and to serve as a conduit between students and administrators, he
said.
Tommy Griffin, chair of the Employee Forum, talked about the forum’s role as a liaison
between employees and administrators. Issues the forum wants to address include health
insurance, sustainability and the development of Carolina North.
“We’re the Tar Heel spirit and what we do at Carolina North will make a difference in the
next century,” he said. “We want to leave something good behind for our students, faculty
and staff.”
He thanked faculty members for their many contributions to Carolina.
“Without you, we wouldn’t have a university,”
he said.
GRAPHIC: GET PAGE FROM PDF
STUDENTS
Class of 2012 is
already making its mark on
campus
Stephen Farmer knows numbers cannot fully capture the caliber of students who make up
Carolina’s class of 2012.
“Numbers,” he said, “do not do justice to their achievements, nor their potential –
especially not their potential.”
The way to understand the reservoir of intelligence, talent and diversity that these students
bring to the community is to try to get to know each student. In fact, his office had been in
contact with one student for more than five years from first contact to enrollment, said
Farmer, associate provost and director of admissions.
“We’ve chosen them one by one and we’re lucky they’ve chosen us,” he said.
The class of 2012 marked the third straight record year for applications and an increase of
20 percent from five years ago. The yield rate, or the percentage of admitted students who
enroll, dropped 1 point to 67.5 percent for in-state students and 3 points, down to 28.2
percent, for out-of-state students.
Farmer said this one-year decline was something that the University should watch but not
be worried about. The lower yield could also be viewed as evidence that Carolina is now
competing with some of the top universities in the nation for some of the best students.
“In effect, we’ve played ourselves into a tougher league,” Farmer said.
Among in-state students with SAT scores of 1400 or higher, Carolina increasingly
competes with schools like Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia, Vanderbilt and Davidson.
For top out-of-state African-American students, Carolina competes with many of those
same schools, plus Maryland, Georgetown, Howard, Georgia, Penn and Spelman. For other
top out-of-state students, the list expands to such universities as Emory, Michigan, Boston
College and Washington University in St. Louis.
Moreover, Farmer said, many of the schools in this tougher league are “changing the rules”
in order to win the best and brightest students. And many universities are stealing a page
from the Carolina playbook by offering more generous financial-aid packages for families
with demonstrated need.
RECRUITING EFFORTS
Farmer said he would like to see recruiting become a bigger University priority and money
raised for aid directed strategically.
Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, also
discussed the need for emphasis on merit scholarships. She presented a chart that showed a
slight dip in acceptance levels from top students who were offered some of the University’s most
prestigious scholarships.
Ort said that the University needed to significantly increase private support for these merit
scholarships to keep them competitive with comparable scholarships offered at other top
universities that seek to recruit these same students.
Among the people recruiting students this past year were 23 admissions recruiters, 148
student ambassadors, 80 faculty members and 100 alumni volunteers. Together, they helped
host 467 on-campus tours, visit 148 high schools in North Carolina and host 23 receptions
for top prospects, Farmer said.
Other points of contact included 982,000 e-mails, 174,000 mailings, eight chat sessions,
20 phonathons and more than 30,000 pages of interactive message boards.
Farmer also discussed the intangible qualities that the incoming class possessed from outof-classroom experiences such as world travel, playing a sport or community service.
“They are already making their mark on campus. Give them a little time
and a little support and they will make a greater mark yet. They will
change us, and we hope we will
change them.”
GET GRAPHIC FROM PDF
FACULTYSTAFF
Strahl receives new NIH EUREKA
grant for innovative research
Brian D. Strahl, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the School of
Medicine, is among the first 38 recipients nationwide of a new award for innovative,
potentially revolutionary research.
The
grants,
the
first
made
under
a
new
National
Institutes of Health program called EUREKA (Exceptional, Unconventional Research
Enabling Knowledge Acceleration), fund innovative research projects the agency believes
could have an extraordinarily significant impact on many areas of science.
Strahl will receive about $200,000 per year for four years to work on deciphering what’s
known as the “histone code,” which researchers think may play a role in health and disease.
Histones are proteins that help package DNA so that strands several feet long can fit into
each cell in the body. To control this process, enzymes in the cell cause small chemical
changes in histones.
Numerous studies by Strahl and others indicate that these modifications may work
together in the form of a “histone code” to regulate DNA activities such as gene expression
– the activation and silencing of genes – and DNA repair.
Defects in the enzymes that modify histones cause a wide variety of human diseases
including cancer, Strahl said.
“Evidence also exists that these enzymes play a role in aging, neurodegeneration,
molecular
mechanisms
regulating drug addiction, and stem cell biology,” he said. “However, we only have limited
information about how histone modifications interact with one another to elicit their biological
effects on health and disease.”
Strahl will use the EUREKA grant to develop a new approach to screen for human proteins
known to associate with DNA packaging.
“Our long-term goal is to further understand how the distinct types of modifications known
to occur on histones contribute to a possible ‘histone code’ and to human biology and
disease,” he said.
WORKINGATCAROLINA
‘GMA’ tour comes to
UNC
offee steam and puffs of breath rose amid masses of fluttering blue and white pompoms and signs as the four ABC News “Good Morning America (GMA) Weekend”
anchors descended the steps of Carroll Hall at 7 a.m. on Sept. 20.
Four million viewers watched the one-hour show, a product of almost four months
of
planning
and
more
than
45
hours
of filming.
Students who admitted they were not regular GMA viewers braved the 55-degree
temperature for the national spotlight. Sophomores Yates Creech, Andrew Pearce and Josh
Britton, whose painted bodies resembled blue Smurfs, shouted, “UNC for president!”
Carolina held the spotlight for 42 minutes, which is worth about $1 million in advertising,
GMA executive producer Andrew Morse said. An organized patchwork of segments that ran
from four seconds to four minutes highlighted conversations with students about the election
and college life, the Tar Heel pep band and cheerleaders and a cook-off.
The show brought viewers up to date with the ivory tower of today and, in a presentation
by assistant finance professor Edward Van Wesep, related the economic crisis to its
projected effect on universities.
C
UNC REPRESENTS NORTH CAROLINA
The show marked the third live GMA broadcast in the past 10 years at Carolina and was
part of the network’s “50 States in 50 Days” tour, which began Sept. 15. In June, GMA
producers told Karen Moon, special projects producer for the University, that they wanted
UNC to be the North Carolina location and college host.
Shooting on campus began Sept. 15 for the “Youth Vote” segment. The film crew
interviewed UNC Young Democrats, Duke University College Republicans and other
students.
Carolina helped represent a generation often shadowed by statistics showing that historically
they vote less than their percentage of the population, co-anchor Kate Snow said.
“This is the next generation of leaders and voters,” she said. “What they think matters a
lot.”
GREEK LIFE FACE-OFF
GMA producer Eric Noll said the crew raved about coming to UNC. “This is the college
campus,” said Noll, who went to New York University.
He shot “Iron Chef College Style” on Sept. 18. Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Chi Phi fraternity
teams scrambled through the Rams Head Market, stuffing baskets with $50 of food. Their
concoctions included secret ingredients chosen by GMA from the staples of college dining:
Ramen noodles, peanut butter, Red Bull energy drinks and cereal.
ADPi member and journalism senior Stephanie Kane was pitted against her brother Alex, a
sophomore Chi Phi member. Though both hoped the cook-off would show Greek life in a
positive light, the siblings were eager to compete.
The sorority students’ parfait creation was deemed, “AD Pile-on,” and the fraternity’s ThaiRamen noodle combination, “Chi Phi Thai.” The Saturday broadcast ended with the final vote
cast by Rameses, who preferred the AD Pile-on.
HANDLING THE DETAILS
Producers scouted the campus in mid-August. Soon after, the first of 2,000 e-mails from
GMA flooded into Moon’s inbox, asking about details such as catering, phone line hook-ups,
and hair and makeup rooms.
“It’s like planning a wedding,” said Moon, who handled the logistics of GMA’s visit.
The location, Carroll Hall, was changed from Manning Hall based on morning sunlight,
building attractiveness and parking. But nearby Hanes Hall presented a new problem.
Construction that finished in August left the area between the buildings bare of greenery.
Facilities Services sped up work to get the location ready, hanging banners, putting in sod
and planting shrubs, Moon said. “I’ve never been so excited to see grass.”
BACK TO SCHOOL
The day before the broadcast, the anchors split to do their separate segments, which
focused on activities they had wanted to do in college. Co-anchor Bill Weir went to the
Spanish class of Josefa Lindquist, who said she “took no prisoners.”
“Do you understand what she’s saying?” Weir asked another student. “I thought she asked
how many chickens I own.” Weir said he wished he had paid more attention in Spanish: “I
can’t even order a burrito.”
Weather and features correspondent Marysol Castro, who did not have the chance to take
a drama class in college, auditioned for Shakespeare’s “Pericles” at the Center for Dramatic
Art. Though Castrol memorizes script on the spot for ABC, she admitted not memorizing the
audition lines and joked about earning “the least-likely–to-succeed award.”
News anchor Ron Claiborne played cymbals with the Tar Heel marching band, and Kate
Snow, who once sang in Cornell University’s choir, rehearsed with the rock band The
Huguenots for 20 minutes before singing their song “She'll take you down” that evening at a
Relay for Life benefit.
The next day, Saturday, the anchors arrived at Carroll Hall at 5 a.m. wearing navy blue
sweatshirts that read “College.” Even then, the roar of the early-bird crowd could be heard
across north campus.
By 9 a.m., the quad was calm again, briefly. GMA was headed back to New York to
prepare for Sunday’s broadcast, and the campus prepared to welcome a crowd of tailgaters
for
the
3:30 p.m. football game.
It was a true team effort, from the Grounds Department to ABC News, to make this
successful, said Moon. “Any live remote broadcast takes a lot of logistics. That’s the nature
of the beast.”
Editor’s Note: Meagan Racey, a junior from Pinehurst, wrote
this article.
CUTLINES
Left, "Good Morning America Weekend" anchors descend the steps of Carroll Hall at 7 a.m. to begin the Sept. 20
broadcast
from Carolina. Right, Facilities Services crews hang banners to help get the campus ready for the national
spotlight.
'The road less
taken'
Gas savings, bucolic scenery fuel grounds worker to
keep pedaling
on’t let the fancy Spandex riding outfit or his highfalutin 15-gear bicycle fool you. Don
Acrey is not the kind of guy who cares much about fashion.
He wears Spandex because the fabric moves and stretches to keep his skin from
chafing and blistering, and it breathes well enough to keep the sweat away from his
body so he stays dry.
As for the 15 gears, he can call on just about every one of them pedaling up and down the
rolling hills during his 30-mile ride from Chapel Hill to his home in Cedar Grove.
The climb up a long, steep hill would blow out his legs if he couldn’t slip into that one sweet
gear that allows him to pedal uphill with ease. So what if his speed drops to the pace of a
three-legged turtle on holiday. The ride home is never a race but a journey.
For many people, 30 miles would be too far to drive, much less pedal, but it isn’t half as
bad as it sounds, Acrey said.
He is only a year shy of 60, but he is more fit and trim than most men half his age. Acrey
doesn’t say that; he looks it.
Like almost every other boy in America, he grew up riding a bike. But his eyes were open
to the broader utility a bike could offer when he was a soldier in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.
Over there, he said, adults rode bicycles anywhere they needed to go, and he was surprised
at how many things they could haul. What’s more, not one of the people he saw bike riding
was fat.
For almost all his life, Acrey has made a living getting his hands dirty and making things
grow. That work took him all over the country, first to California, then Georgia, then Florida
before he could come back to his hometown of Durham, where he ran his own landscaping
business for some 20 years. And finally, it brought him to Chapel Hill to work as a crew chief
in the University’s Grounds Department for the past three-and-a-half years.
It was that same love of nature that led Acrey and his wife to give up their house in town
for a small cottage on a plot of land in Cedar Grove, northwest of Hillsborough.
The biggest adjustment he had to make in coming to the University, he said, was punching
the clock. “When you work for yourself, you tell people when you are going to show up. When
you work for a place like Carolina, somebody tells you,” he said.
Not that he has much to complain about. He likes getting to work at the crack of dawn
during the summer so that he can leave work early, and he likes it even more since he
started riding his bike.
D
The idea to ride home from work came to him after he began riding his bike regularly at
night and on weekends. Such a plan was feasible because his wife works at Eastgate
Shopping Center and could drop off Acrey and his gear when she drove
into town.
Riding in the morning would have posed pitfalls that his afternoon ride doesn’t. Darkness,
for
one
thing.
Heavy
commuter
traffic,
for another.
By leaving Carolina for home before 3 p.m., he can glide out of town before the afternoon
rush begins and soon be in the country where the passing scenery is filled with cows rather
than cars.
For eight months now, he has been riding his bike home from work three or four times a
week, which racks up a total 90 to 120 miles.
At first, he had to convince his co-workers that he was not crazy, but they were convinced
he had to be a little touched, he said. “They just didn’t get it, but as time went on they started
asking me questions. ‘You ride how far?’ ‘You do what?’”
Acrey likes the idea of keeping his big Chevy pickup truck parked in the driveway and
burning calories instead of gasoline. In fact, he has even found a Web site that allows him to
calculate just how much money he is saving on gasoline, how many calories he is
consuming, even how much less carbon monoxide he is putting into the air.
He has kept at it long enough to silence most of the doubters, including his wife, and has
yet to hear a good reason to stop. He knows the winter cold will be a challenge, but not one
that long pants and a wool jacket can’t take care of most days.
There is something about being outdoors and feeling connected to it that is important to
Acrey in ways that mere words can’t capture, something that speaks more to the spirit than
the senses. It is what drew him into his line of work and part of the reason he still likes to bike
at an age when some are thinking more about reaching for the rocker.
Riding a bicycle, Acrey said, has already made him live better than he otherwise could.
“It may not add any longevity to my life, but it makes the time you’re here more fun,” he
said.
There are days when the sun is shining just right and he’s surrounded only by the corn and
cows and the wind whistling through his helmet, that he feels like he owns the road.
And at such moments, he does.
News from the Office of Human
Resources
2009 ANNUAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD KICKS OFF
On Monday, the Office of Human Resources kicked off its annual enrollment period for
NCFlex and University benefit programs. Through Nov. 3, employees can enroll, cancel or
make changes to their current benefit elections. Enrollment guides and NCFlex enrollment
booklets are being sent by campus mail to all employees this week.
The University benefit programs also provide coverage for a spouse or domestic partner.
Additional information is available at hr.unc.edu/Data/benefits/enroll – including benefit
changes for 2009, links to other Web sites, tools and benefit comparisons. Enrollment forms
for the University benefit programs (MetLife group term life, Reliance Standard AD&D
insurance and Assurant Dental) are also available here.
All NCFlex elections must be processed online – Benefits Administration will not accept
enrollment forms for any NCFlex plans. If you are electing a health care or dependent day care
spending account, you must re-enroll for 2009. Online NCFlex enrollment is available at
www.ncflexonline.org. The system is easy to use and allows employees to print a confirmation
of their choices.
All changes an employee elects during the annual enrollment become effective Jan. 1,
2009. For enrollment questions and assistance, call the Benefits Office at 962-3071.
EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY SCHEDULED FOR OCT. 16
Fall for All, Carolina’s annual employee appreciation day will be held Oct. 16 from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Come to the Pit for games and entertainment, with lunch beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Hamburgers, corn dogs, chicken and veggie wraps, chicken tenders, fresh fruit, soft pretzels,
popcorn and drinks will be offered, plus live music and other entertainment.
Step over to the Great Hall of the Student Union for the employee expo and benefits fair
with more than 50 benefits vendors on hand to answer questions.
Student Stores is offering employees a 25 percent discount on Bull’s Head books and UNC
logo
items
between
7:30
a.m.
and
7 p.m. Textbooks, electronics, school supplies and RAM Shop items are excluded.
A walk-in flu shot clinic will be held in room 2518 in the Student Union from 8 a.m. until 5
p.m. Shots are free to State Health Plan members (you must present your card) and $30 for
non-members.
All events are free to University employees. This is a work-time event, with advance
approval from the supervisor.
For
information
or
to
volunteer
to
help
at
the
event,
refer
to
hr.unc.edu/specialprograms/empapp-08/index or call Shelly Green (962-1483) or e-mail
employee_services@unc.edu.
MENTORING AWARD
NOMINATIONS DUE OCT. 31
A new Excellence in Mentoring Award recognizes outstanding mentoring efforts in the
University community.
“At its heart, mentoring is about learning and development,” said Rob Kramer, director of
Training & Development in the Office of Human Resources. “And at its best, mentoring aligns
an individual’s professional desires with the business goals of the organization. Through this
alignment, a platform for organizational growth and personal excellence is created.”
The award is designed to:
n Recognize an employee’s outstanding efforts in promoting a mentoring culture at Carolina,
either through a direct engagement with mentoring or through involvement with a
mentoring program or initiative on campus;
n Raise awareness of the importance and value of mentoring throughout the University
community; and
Encourage a culture of mentorship. Many successful mentoring programs currently exist
on campus, and this award is designed to recognize these relationships and to encourage
and support mentoring efforts.
Recipients must be nominated by a colleague and have at least one year of University
service. The person must be – or have been directly engaged in – a mentoring relationship,
involved in a mentoring program or initiative or have encouraged a culture of mentoring
within the University community. Selection will be based on the impact the person has had
on others as expressed on the nomination form.
Nominations will be accepted through Oct. 31, and the recipient will be notified during the
first week of December. The recipient will receive 24 hours of paid time off, a plaque and
automatic nomination for a Chancellor’s Award in the category of Human Relations.
n
The nomination form is available at
hr.unc.edu/Data/SPA/training/mentor/award.
NEWSBRIEFS
CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT HONORS THORP
In celebration of Holden Thorp’s installation as chancellor on University Day, the chemistry
department is hosting a symposium Oct. 13 in honor of its former chair. Thorp’s doctoral
mentor at the California Institute of Technology, Harry B. Gray, will give a talk at noon, “The
21st Century Chemistry Grand Challenge: Fuel from Sunlight and Water.” It will be held in
Room 103 of the Stone Center.
At 4 p.m. in 125 Chapman Hall, Thorp’s postdoctoral mentor at Yale, Gary Brudvig, will
speak on “Water Oxidation Chemistry of Photosystem II and Artificial Systems.”
For information, e-mail nstrong@email.unc.edu.
NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR SUMMER READING BOOK SELECTION
Recommendations are due by Oct. 14 for book titles for consideration as the 2009
Summer Reading Program book.
Criteria for book selection are posted online, as well as a link to an online submission form.
www.unc.edu/srp
GREEN, TO GO
Grab a great meal to go at Top of Lenoir and Rams Head Dining halls this fall, without a
side of guilt.
Carolina Dining Services offers reusable containers at both locations for $3.50. Pay once
and exchange it for a clean one every time you get takeout. snipurl.com/3tcl8
‘DR. QUINN’ CREATOR LECTURES
Hollywood producer and writer Beth Sullivan visits campus Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 as a guest
of the Writing for the Screen and Stage program.
She is best known for her work on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” She screens and
discusses its pilot Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Hanes Art Center.
Sullivan also will give two public talks on Oct. 14. She will discuss “Writing and Producing
for TV” during a brown-bag lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Toy Lounge in Dey Hall. At 6
p.m. she will talk about “Women in TV” in 116 Murphey Hall.
PAST MEETS FUTURE AT PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY MEETING
The campus community is invited to an Oct. 10 symposium hosted by the Department of
Physics and Astronomy, “Physics and Astronomy at UNC-CH: Where We Came From,
Where We Are Going.”
The meeting will feature presentations from some of the department’s emeritus professors
about the department, its people and its research in the mid-20th century, paired with
presentations from young assistant professors about new scientific developments that might
be expected in the 21st century.
The symposium will be held from 1 to 4:35 p.m. in Chapman Hall. For information, see
www.physics.unc.edu/~mcneil/pastfuturesymposium.htm.
FINANCE WORKSHOP SET FOR OCT. 29, 30
The Finance Division will sponsor a continuing professional education workshop,
"Leadership Management and Institutional Challenges," on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 at The
Carolina Club. The event is open to all and meets the N.C. State Board requirements for
North
Carolina
CPAs
to
obtain
up
to
12
CPE
credits.
www.unc.edu/finance/fd/ct/traindocs/courseannouncement.pdf
MORGAN LECTURES OCT. 2, 3
Alumnus, poet, novelist and nonfiction writer Robert Morgan, winner of this year’s Thomas
Wolfe Prize, delivers the Thomas Wolfe Lecture Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Carroll Hall’s
auditorium. english.unc.edu/wolfe
Morgan also speaks about his “Brave Enemies: A Novel of the American Revolution,” on
Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Hill Alumni Center as part of the James A. Hutchins lectures. Both are
free and open to the public. snipurl.com/3td4x
IAH SEEKS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
APPLICATIONS
The Institute for the Arts and Humanities’ Academic Leadership Program (ALP) is
accepting nominations for the 2009-10 academic year. Because the ALP requires a
significant time commitment, a flexible-use stipend of $7,000 is provided to each participant.
To read more about ALP, to apply to become a fellow or to nominate a fellow faculty
member, refer to snipurl.com/3th7m. Applications are due by Nov. 1.
NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR HARVEY PRIZE
The Harvey Prize is awarded annually by The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology –
in a variety of disciplines within the categories of science and technology and human health.
It has also been awarded for contributions to peace in the Middle East.
Two awards of $75,000 each are made annually. Applications are due Nov. 1. For
application information, see snipurl.com/3the3.
PERFORMING ARTS OFFERS
CHALLENGING DANCE-THEATER
“To Be Straight With You” – a visceral, highly political piece featuring live performance,
documentary footage and animation – opens the experimental series of this year’s Carolina
Performing Arts season.
Performances by London’s DV8 Physical Theatre will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 8 p.m.
Oct. 10 in Memorial Hall. www.carolinaperformingarts.org
AGING EXCHANGE SET FOR OCT. 16
The Fifth Annual Aging Exchange takes place Oct. 16 at the Friday Center from 1 to 6:30
p.m.
The free event is dedicated to promoting aging at UNC and includes among many events
the presentation of honors to campus leaders and students and discussion of campus aging
initiatives and research.
Refer to www.aging.unc.edu/events/agingexchange/index.html for complete information.
ADDITIONAL LECTURES
n
n
n
Gary Dickson, an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh, presents “The
Children’s Crusade and Medieval History” Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m. in Toy Lounge of Dey Hall.
mems.unc.edu
The Institute of African-American Research hosts a “Race-ing Research, Research Race”
seminar Oct. 8 at noon in 271 Hamilton Hall. Rajesh Ghoshal will speak on the topic,
“What does commemorating past racial violence do?” www.unc.edu/iaar
The Friday Center presents a series of four lectures beginning Oct. 16, “We the People:
Democracy in America.” Fees are $10 per session or $30 for the series. snipurl.com/3tdgl
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY NEWS
The University Library continually adds new, easily accessible electronic resources to
support research and learning. The following recently added titles show the scope of topics
library materials can support. To access them, search the catalog (search.lib.unc.edu) or ask
a librarian for assistance (library.unc.edu/ask.html). Off-campus access generally requires an
Onyen or PID. New titles are:
n The American Civil War Research Database;
n China Data Online;
n Encyclopaedia of Islam;
n Global Financial Data; and
n Testaments to the Holocaust.
The library is now accepting faculty nominations for new databases and materials in
other
formats.
See
library.
unc.edu.
In other library news, faculty members are invited to submit proposals by Oct. 13 for onetime library materials purchases that support research and teaching at the University.
The library especially seeks requests for items that cost $500 or more. Materials
nominated may be in any format; however, proposals may not be for subscription titles.
The library maintains special funds, including a research fund and a library discretionary
fund, designed to support research and teaching through special purchases. These funds
are especially suitable for materials that may be unusually expensive or that fall outside the
usual
acquisition
scope
for
a
given discipline.
Submissions will be reviewed either by the Collections Committee of the Administrative
Board of the Library or by the Library's Collection Development Council. These groups will
also set priorities for filling unfunded requests, should additional funds become available at a
later time.
For an application form, visit library.unc.edu/spotlight/2008/purchase_requests.html. For
more information, contact John Rutledge (jbr@email.unc.edu or 962-1095).
HEALTHANDSAFETY
Taking
fire safety
everywhere
you go
Billy Mitchell, fire marshal with the Department of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), directs first-year student
Emma Pham in the use of a fire extinguisher during a demonstration in fire safety on Polk Place Sept. 17. EHS
teamed up with the Chapel Hill Fire Department to co-sponsor a Fire Safety Fair as part of National Fire Safety
Month. On Sept. 9, a group of 40 UNC students traveled to Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill to participate in the
initiative “From Chapel Hill to Capitol Hill: Carolina Greeks Promote Fire Safety.” They took part in a press
conference with key speakers and met with several members of Congress.
CALENDAR
'PRINCE
OF TYRE'
Marianne Miller, as Diana, and Scott Ripley, as Pericles, appear in PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of William
Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” through Oct. 12 at the Center for Dramatic Art. Call 962-PLAY or visit www.playmakersrep.org.
CALENDAR SNAPSHOT
PARADISE HOT DOGS Bull’s Head Bookshop celebrates “Confederacy of Dunces” day with free hot dogs.
11 am–1 pm.
PERFORMANCE
UNC
Jazz
Band
with
guest
artist
Andy
Laverne,
piano.
Aud,
Hill.
7:30 pm. snipurl.com/3tdwg
LECTURE Pope Lecture in Renewing the Western Tradition: “Where Is ‘The West?’” Kwame Anthony Appiah,
Princeton U. Aud, Hanes Art. 7 pm.
CURRENT SCIENCE FORUM “Winning Votes, Winning Elections.” George Rabinowitz discusses what factors influence
voters’ decisions and are important in changing a voter’s position. Morehead Planetarium Banquet Hall. 8 pm.
snipurl.com/3te5w
LECTURE Roy Bourgeois speaks about U.S. School of the Americas. Aud, FedEx Global Education Ctr. 9:30 pm. Call Wes
Hare (929-3316).
SKYWATCHING Paddling Under the Stars. Jordan Lake. 7-10 pm. Sponsored by Morehead Planetarium. Call Frog
Hollow Outdoors: 949-4315. $
PERFORMANCE
Buckwheat Zydeco with Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. Memorial. 8 pm. $
www.carolinaperformingarts.org
PERFORMANCE Katherine Walen, Jazz Squad perform. Courtyard, Ackland Art Museum. 4–6 pm.
STREET FAIR Festifall: arts, crafts, entertainment. West Franklin St. 1–6 pm.
READING Sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson reads and signs his newest work in the Dune series, “Paul of Dune.” Bulls’
Head Bookshop. 3:30 pm.
LECTURE “Anthropology’s Engagement with Security.” James Peacock moderates panel discussion on issue of
engagement. 1005 FedEx Global Education Ctr. 5:30–7 pm.
DOCUMENTARY
“Katrina’s
www.katrinaschildren.com
Children.”
Panel
discussion
follows.
Aud,
Hooker
Ctr.
5–6:30
pm.
LECTURE UNC Curriculum in Archaeology Distinguished Lecture in celebration of inception of bachelor’s degree in
archaeology at UNC: “Çatalhöyük, Turkey: New Discoveries and Community Stakeholders at a 9,000 Year Old Town.”
Ian Hodder, Stanford U. Gerrard. 3:30 pm.
FLU
SHOTS
Employee
annual
clinics, through Nov. 13. Environment, Health and Safety. Sign up: ehs.unc.edu.
flu
shot
READING Sahar Amer reads from her new book “Crossing Borders: Love Between Women in Medieval French and Arabic
Literatures." Bulls’ Head Bookshop. 3:30 pm.
INSTALLATION Holden Thorp is installed as Carolina's 10th chancellor. Polk Place. Reception follows. 3 pm.
PERFORMANCE
UNC Symphony Orchestra performs Copeland, Lieberson, Ravel. Memorial. 7:30 pm.
snipurl.com/3tdwg
LECTURE Maurice Martinez, UNC-Wilmington, lectures on the Mardi
Gras Indians. Hill Alumni Ctr. 4 pm.
CONSTRUCTION
DRC E XTRACTED
FOR NEW
DENTAL
SCIENCES
BUILDING
D E MO L I TI O N
of the Dental Research Center (DRC) began last month to make way for the new 216,000 -square-foot
Dental Sciences Building. By Sept. 17, when this photo was taken, most of the exterior face of the building was gone. To
minimize the dust, crews sprayed water on the building. Resulting debris from the demolition will be used as in -fill.
From the fourth-floor of Brauer Hall, the demolition equipment looked like the jaws of a mechanical dinosaur biting the DRC,
said Al Wilder, professor of operative dentistry. “This must be the UNC version of ‘Jurassic Park,’” he said, referring to th e
combination of the equipment’s appearance with the loud thump heard nearby as each piece of concrete hit the ground.
In May, the dental school’s research laboratory operations relocated to Research Triangle Park until the new building
is constructed.
The DRC has stood on the corner of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street since 1967. After its demolition, the adjacent Dental
Office Building is next on the list. In November, the demolition of both buildings should be complete and the
sites restored.
When the new Dental Sciences Building is finished, probably at the
end of 2011, it will include state-of-the-art research
facilities, a 220-seat auditorium, 105-seat lecture halls and 32-seat
seminar rooms. The project also includes plans for a pedestrian
bridge across Manning Drive from the Dental Sciences Building to the
plaza on the east side of Thurston Bowles.
OUTREACH
SECC KICKOFF:
CAROLINA
caring, sharing
Rosetta Wash, left, executive director of the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross, chats with 2008 State Employee s
Combined Campaign Chair Jack Richman, dean of the School of Social Work, at last Friday’s kickoff event and charity fair. The
theme for this year’s campaign is “Carolina Cares – Carolina Shares,” reflecting the University’s strong tradition of working to
improve the well-being of people in North Carolina.